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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Indian Honour Under Hammer

The valuable gold Rolex watch of our first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, will soon be auctioned at Sothby’s in Geneva. It is pathetic that this has not made more than a passing news item in papers.

We all know that antique items have their own value and charm which attracts a lot of art curators and aficionados across the globe. But in this case, more startling is the fact that this watch was reported stolen in 1963 from Dr. Prasad’s Museum in Patna. The Indian government as usual is too busy to even investigate how a memorabilia item reached up to Sothby’s in the first place, let alone to make efforts to bring it back to India. Although the legal heirs of Dr Prasad are doing all what they can but Indian government is sick as usual. Is this the way we honour the people who sacrificed so much of their lives for us?

What makes the watch extremely valuable is not that it is of Rolex brand or it has a map of India made on its dial but that it was presented to Dr. Prasad on the first Republic Day.

Some time back, Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles were also stolen from Sabarmati Ashram. The Indian government must be ashamed on its inability to preserve memorabilia of people who laid their lives for the country.

In India everything happens. :)You are talking about Rolex watch but i'm still wondering whether why Koh-e-noor or Dariya-e-Noor or Peacock Throne or for that matter so many innumerable number of precious things which were legally stolen from our country are still outside our country? Why can't our government do anything? But then on second thoughts my head is filled with questions like...what is government after all? Why are these people behaving like that? Why politicians in India are like that? Why government officials are powerless in everything and why dont they do their duties properly? We need to blame them or we need to blame ourselves?Are they responsible for everything evil happening around or Are we responsible for everything happening around? I think even i'm equally responsible for what is happening around and I'm ashamed of myself. I dont even feel sorry for myself now even on second thoughts.Nice thought provoking post!

good post as usual buddy:) and thanks for keeping patience with me and not getting annoyed as I was tied up for some time..sure u doing well..stay connected n keep the cheers..wishes always u r a wonderful friend

What I wonder about these antiques is, how to they fetch so much money? I mean, the only reason why people might want to buy is, they might want to boast about it to their friends circle. I wonder if they buy it as an investment so that they can resell it later, after some years? Whatever the reason, people paying so much money to acquire such objects doesn't make much sense to me. These things might be more useful to a museum.